Chicopee postpones buying vehicles to search for less expensive, more fuel-efficient cars

CHICOPEE – The City Council has put off several requests to purchase new vehicles for different city departments until they can find out more information about getting less expensive and more fuel-efficient cars.

Earlier this month, Police Chief John R. Ferraro requested approvals to transfer $110,000 from one of his department’s salary account to purchase five new cruisers. At the same time, Department of Public Works superintendent Stanley W. Kulig asked to move a total of $27,000 from three different accounts in his department to replace one 15-year-old sport utility vehicles for the city engineer.

Because the police cars have high mileage, Ferraro said he expects to receive no more than $3,000 in a trade-in, even though none of the cars are that old.

John Ferraro

City Councilor James K. Tillotson questioned if it was better to take a deeper look at the entire fleet of vehicles the city currently owns and transfer some to different departments so they can be better used, and buy different ones to save the city money.

For example, some of the police cruisers are no more than three years old and may be better used to replace another city car such as the one now being used by the engineering department.

Tillotson also proposed to Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette the idea of giving the engineering department the Ford Explorer that he currently drives and instead purchasing a smaller and more fuel-efficient car because he does more traveling.

Kulig said his department has researched the idea of buying hybrid vehicles, but the price is much higher.

“It would cost $32,000 for a hybrid. To get that money back it would take the entire life of the vehicle,” Kulig said.

Since this is also the last year that Ford is making the Crown Victoria, which the police department uses for cruisers, other research will also have to be done soon to decide how to replace other cars, Bissonnette said.

Although Kulig and Ferraro said they wanted to purchase the vehicles using money left over at the end of the fiscal year, which finished June 30, Tillotson said there was no real deadline.

Any money not used by departments at the end of the fiscal is turned over to the city as so-called free cash. Then that free cash could be used to purchase the cars, he said.